Why Hemp, The Sustainable Wonder Crop, Is Sweeping The Nation

a reply to: Blue Shift

Its really good to see this thread, indeed, this issue, getting the attention it so widely deserves.

In my opinion and the opinion of many others, hemp will save the world. Its uses are many, it is an easily renewable resource, far more so than the precious trees we currently destroy in the name of industry. To say that hemp would not have a major, major, impact on our current socioeconomic paradigm is nothing short of foolish. Then again, with all the money spent to demonize it in the last century, why would anyone believe otherwise? Until one does ones own research and comes to ones own, truly informed, conclusion that is.

4 Ways Hemp CAN Save the World

1) Hemp can feed the world

Due to its hardy nature the hemp plant adapts welDue to its hardy nature the hemp plant adapts well to varied growing conditions and therefore requires to varied growing conditions and therefore requires less unnatural intervention. It’s arguable that hemp less unnatural intervention. It’s arguable that hemp can be grown to help feed populations across the can be grown to help feed populations across the world that lack access to nutritious food sources. world that lack access to nutritious food sources. Unlike other crops such as rice and soy, the hemp Unlike other crops such as rice and soy, the hemp plant tolerates strong weather conditions and can plant tolerates strong weather conditions and can therefore be cultivated in different areas of the therefore be cultivated in different areas of the world, with minimum chemical use. It has also been world, with minimum chemical use. It has also been found to be found to be easier to digest than soy easier to digest than soy . .

2) Hemp can clothe the world

Hemp clothing produces a texture similar to linenHemp clothing produces a texture similar to linen, but is stronger and more durable than cotton. There but is stronger and more durable than cotton. There is some evidence that is some evidence that hemp cloth allows the skin to hemp cloth allows the skin to ‘breathe’ better than other materials ‘breathe’ better than other materials do, including do, including cotton. Because hemp has hollow fibers and cotton cotton. Because hemp has hollow fibers and cotton does not, hemp clothing can aid the body in does not, hemp clothing can aid the body in regulating its natural temperature. Hemp bark regulating its natural temperature. Hemp bark contains bast fibers that can be used to make pure-contains bast fibers that can be used to make pure-hemp clothing products, or blended with other fibers hemp clothing products, or blended with other fibers to make furnishings and other household products. to make furnishings and other household products.

3) Hemp can build the world

Hemp can be used to build foundations of houseHemp can be used to build foundations of houses from concrete-like blocks made of a mix of hemp and from concrete-like blocks made of a mix of hemp and lime called hempcrete. The blended material acts as lime called hempcrete. The blended material acts as natural insulation for a house, and during the building natural insulation for a house, and during the building process it locks carbon dioxide into the structure, process it locks carbon dioxide into the structure, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In 2009 in the UK, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In 2009 in the UK, The Renewable House The Renewable House was made from a hemp and was made from a hemp and lime base, and boasts that ‘Enough hemp to produce lime base, and boasts that ‘Enough hemp to produce one house can be grown in just 14 weeks in one one house can be grown in just 14 weeks in one hectare of land’. In North Carolina in the US, a house hectare of land’. In North Carolina in the US, a house house constructed using hempcrete house constructed using hempcrete was made in was made in 2010.The builders of the house have attested that as 2010.The builders of the house have attested that as the lime in the hempcrete mixture hardens over time, the lime in the hempcrete mixture hardens over time, the walls of the house actually become stronger, the walls of the house actually become stronger, instead of weakening as traditional walls do. instead of weakening as traditional walls do.

4) Hemp can heal the world

While allergies and immune system disorders are oWhile allergies and immune system disorders are on the rise, hemp oil the rise, hemp oil has anti-inflammatory properties has anti-inflammatory properties and can provide essential nutrients for people on and can provide essential nutrients for people on restricted diets or living in areas of the world where restricted diets or living in areas of the world where food is scarce. Growing hemp is a powerful solution food is scarce. Growing hemp is a powerful solution for a wide array of environmental problems on our for a wide array of environmental problems on our planet, from locking CO2 away into long-lasting and planet, from locking CO2 away into long-lasting and durable buildings, to reducing chemical use during durable buildings, to reducing chemical use during the growing procedure, by reducing emissions the growing procedure, by reducing emissions through importing hemp goods from China, by through importing hemp goods from China, by creating long-lasting reusable goods such as clothing creating long-lasting reusable goods such as clothing and paper, and even by detoxifying nuclear waste, and paper, and even by detoxifying nuclear waste, as as demonstrated in Chernobyl demonstrated in Chernobyl . Growing hemp for fuel . Growing hemp for fuel could replace the dangerous and costly nuclear could replace the dangerous and costly nuclear power industry, and would certainly reduce carbon power industry, and would certainly reduce carbon emissions due to the less intensive farming methods emissions due to the less intensive farming methods required to grow it. Hemp can also be made into a required to grow it. Hemp can also be made into a type of plastic which biodegrades much faster than type of plastic which biodegrades much faster than oil-made plastic, thereby reducing our dependence oil-made plastic, thereby reducing our dependence on oil and its derivatives. on oil and its derivatives.

Hemp Could Save America
Hemp, the plant that could save mother Earth
Is hemp a miracle plant that can save the world?

Hemp can and will save our world. We just have to help it do so, after all, its just a plant and alone it can't do anything to help our stubborn, ignorant culture. We let corporate and private interests dig the hole that is destroying our forests and hindering our agriculture industry; its time to fill those holes with the hemp seed and reap our destiny once again. Without hemp America would be a very different place, if it existed at all.

Kallisti

I am glad to hear all the positive things said about Weed (marihuana) in America.

In the Netherlands we are "allowed" to grow it for personal use. If I am correct you can have 6 plants in the house and 10 plants outside in your garden.

Why we did not legalize the weed?

Well if you think about it, why would you legalize a plant, you don't legalize your begonia's or your rose bush or an oak tree.

All of this is this is made by Mother Earth, so lets enjoy nature to the max and don't call it medical weed. It's WEED, nothing more nothing less, it grows everywhere in the world. Let us be happy that it has such good results for all kind of deceases. We also have to be thankful for the use of weed for clothing (very durable) and as a herb for salads etc etc.

Praise the WEED thanks to Mother Earth for one of the most useful plants on this planet, she did' not put this plant here for nothing. USE IT IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY

Love and Peace for All

Great post Harry, true words i hope people will realize what an ace this plant is.: HarryJoy

Okay, okay. I see how this is going.

*backs slowly out of the room*

The reason it is banned is because it is soooooo good for us and the environment. It was made legal during war times and then banned again in several countries during several wars, simply put without hemp we would not be the society we are today. You can make plastic, fuel, clothes, ropes, bags, topical oil, edible oils so many uses for this plant its almost as if it was put here for us. It is biodegradable. It can yield food as well, the seeds are potent with five essential amino acids, iron, protein, vitamins, fiber it is considered a super food. One acre of hemp can make as much paper as four acres of trees. It is relatively easy to grow. It is non GMO. It is non GMO. It is non GMO!! Those are just the uses for the male plant. The female makes flowers which has its own properties that can be used to solve other problems which I wont go into any further.

Nature holds all the answers and solutions for us, funny how they are all there available for us, like evolution made them for us or maybe those solutions were designed? For another time . We don't need to reinvent the wheel over and over, some like to, but it is not necessary.

Crude oil take a back seat, hemp is back jack!

You are spot on with that post there bro.

sorry for the one liner there.

a reply to: MysterX

I've only read a few pages of these comments, and I've seen the question, "Why was it outlawed in the first place?" I haven't really seen the answer. (in the pages I read) Even though I have no sources to back it up, I believe it was due to lobbying by the nylon/cotton corporations, along with alcohol producers, to get rid of their stronger competition... I could be wrong, but I heard this a while back.

a reply to: japhrimu

And timber, I have always heard it was william hearst that was big into the outlawing of hemp.
But the interest's you say makes sense as well

originally posted by: Sremmos80

And timber, I have always heard it was william hearst that was big into the outlawing of hemp.
But the interest's you say makes sense as well

Hemp was proving so beneficial it made a lot of enemies. Who is responsible for outlawing it is a question like, "Who killed Kennedy?" There are just too many complicit in it to know for sure. In either case it was not just one lone nut responsible for the misdeed. It's a conspiracy and the cannabis prohibition has done more to eliminate any rights and privacies the people once had in the US than anything else they ever took away from us.

I can see this all turning around once again and restoring some basic freedoms, but then what would be the suspicion used to roust people at will? There is a huge oppressive power the authorities have over the people that ending hemp prohibition would eliminate. We have so much to gain with this, and the powers have so much to lose. Will they let go quietly? They got the guns but we got the numbers.

a reply to: Blue Shift

funny but Hemp actually got us where we are today , if it wasn't for Hemp and its products we would likely not be having this conversation in the first place, it helped through the industrial age revolutionise the world.

So sorry but yes it is a wonder crop that has likely done more for man than any other single plant species

originally posted by: japhrimu
I've only read a few pages of these comments, and I've seen the question, "Why was it outlawed in the first place?" I haven't really seen the answer. (in the pages I read) Even though I have no sources to back it up, I believe it was due to lobbying by the nylon/cotton corporations, along with alcohol producers, to get rid of their stronger competition... I could be wrong, but I heard this a while back.

read the online book , the emperor wears no clothes and that will maybe enlighten you as to the truth!

to quickly answer your question it was made illegal because it threatened the very existence of every other industry all at once
and that is bad for business as you cant control the world if everyone has a plant that can , feed , clothe, and shelter you all at once

The fact is that Hemp provides the basic materials for the survival of our species all in one plant
You can eat it , you can make materials from it , and you can make shelter from it, you can also use it as fuel to light your home and heat it as well , it grows like crazy and is resistant to pretty much every insect / disease in the plant world

Also because monsanto cant patent it likely

originally posted by: V22tech
a reply to: Sremmos80

No, your ignorance is showing CANABIS SATIVA....same freakin plant one male one female SAME PLANT! get it? No one will grow the canabis sativa plant for its tactile use, its more lucrative to make it a drug and sell it.

It's not the "same Freakin plant". Like all genus, there are vast variations in generic classifications:

A total of 46 varieties of hemp with low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are certified by the European Union (EU).[56] They have, unlike other types, a very high fiber content of 30-40%. In contrast to cannabis for medical use, varieties grown for fiber and seed have less than 0.2% THC and they are unsuitable for producing hashish and marijuana.[57] The most important cannabinoid in industrial hemp is cannabidiol (CBD) with a proportion of 1 to 5%.

black and white drawing: C. sativa tall, C. indica middle, C. ruderalis small

The variety of appearances for cannabis. Only C. sativa (left) is suited for industrial hemp, but it also has medicinal varieties.
Cannabis sativa L. subsp. sativa var. sativa is the variety grown for industrial use, while C. sativa subsp. indica generally has poor fiber quality and is primarily used for recreational and medicinal purposes. The major difference between the two types of plants is the appearance and the amount of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) secreted in a resinous mixture by epidermal hairs called glandular trichomes, although they can also be distinguished genetically.[58] Oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis approved for industrial hemp production produce only minute amounts of this psychoactive drug, not enough for any physical or psychological effects. Typically, hemp contains below 0.3% THC, while cultivars of Cannabis grown for recreational use can contain anywhere from 2% to over 20%.[59]

Source: HEMP

originally posted by: V22tech
No one will grow the canabis sativa plant for its tactile use, its more lucrative to make it a drug and sell it.

I believe it has been shown otherwise, hemp will be grown for its 'textile' uses and other industrial applications.

In regard to your second point: Heretofore in the past seven decades it has been most lucrative to create a 'black market' around cannabis and use prohibition tactics to inflate the price of the substance, 'control' its distribution, and benefit from off-the-book proceeds. Extra-governmental organizations have demonstrated a penchant for utilizing such a strategy to support their 'black ops' and prop-up rebel forces in skirmishes that support their political ends through illicit drug trafficking.

The infamous War on Drugs had never been about stopping drug traffic but for controlling it. Great inroads into violation of our natural rights and privacies have been made using a phoney altruism in order to tyrannize the populace and justify no-knock laws in a phoney campaign to stamp out the 'evil weed.' Fortunately this all appears to be turning around and the people are restoring their liberties lost during the implementation of this oppressive scam. Hemp is now ready to turn its profit in a normal matter, if only we assert and demand corrupt political controllers keep their hands off our hemp and let things take their natural course.

originally posted by: twfau
I can't for the life of me understand why this stuff is illegal! A government could make loads of money off it.

On the point that people would just get high off it, even if that were true, it's no basis to make something illegal. People generally use alcohol to get drunk, still legal though.

Unfortunately, the cotton farmers were making even more loads of money and lobbied to have hemp banned as it cut into their profits. Even though hemp required less water and grew faster.

originally posted by: stormcell

originally posted by: twfau
I can't for the life of me understand why this stuff is illegal! A government could make loads of money off it.

On the point that people would just get high off it, even if that were true, it's no basis to make something illegal. People generally use alcohol to get drunk, still legal though.

Unfortunately, the cotton farmers were making even more loads of money and lobbied to have hemp banned as it cut into their profits. Even though hemp required less water and grew faster.

As were the emerging petro-fiber companies with products as rayon, nylon, etc., as well as the legendary timberland holdings of Randolph Hearst and his Kimberly-Clarke paper mills that new hemp production methods threatened to devalue, and a number of other concerns that hemp/cannabis products would likely remain or become superior to as automation was to benefit hemp production and manufacturing as well.

Another thing to consider is that cannabis prohibition came on the heels of the lifting of alcohol prohibition. Remember that cannabis remained legal during alcohol prohibition and served as an increasingly popular substitute for alcohol spirits and no doubt became the preferred alternative. The re-emerging liquor industry itself did not want the competition that would take profits away from its product, so the lowly weed became the enemy of profiteers everywhere. Also, with the lifting of alcohol prohibition those law enforcement crusaders were left sitting behind desks or working traffic details with the beat cops so the ban on cannabis helped put these zealous law enforcers back in action, with gusto.

So cannabis with its positive promises for mankind met with a similar fate as John Lennon, Martin Luther King, and Ghandi for endorsing 'peace' which stood in the path of domineering hegemonic interests. What is beneficial for the people can become a detriment to the economic interests of wicked and greedy, and the good will be damned.

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Look. Hemp is an okay crop. It makes some good things.

But seriously, hemp worshippers, it is not the HOLY AND MIRACULOUS HAND OF GOD REACHING DOWN FROM HEAVEN TO CURE HUMANITY OF ALL OF ITS ILLS!

The way you carry on, it's no wonder most people mock you as a lot of over-enthusiastic stoners.

If you had been a smoker for many years and lived life wondering if you could be arrested at any time for doing something that harms no-one (not even yourself) and seen many, many friends go to jail, lose jobs and have their lives otherwise ruined due to draconian laws that allow for no leniency then you might get a little excited too that we might be looking at the end of the war on marijuana.

The economic and environmental benefits are nothing short of miraculous. Food, oil, fuel, medicine, fiber plus the short growth cycle, CO2 recycling, erosion-stopping and monetary benefits to American farmers are pretty spectacular too. Economically and environmentally it's a big win.

Please get your information straight. The Declaration of Independence is printed on hemp paper, tree pulp paper would be faded and rapidly decaying by now. Hemp was a major crop during colonial times. So, important that the "drug" laws were suspended during World War II, to allow the production of hemp for the War Effort. One of Great Britain's greatest losses with the Colonies was access to old growth timber, turpentine, and hemp rope for the Royal Navy. Coming forward, Canada grows hemp and ships products to the U.S. Hemp is easily converted to paper, thread and cloth, twine, rope, and products similar to plastic, without the need of petroleum. It requires minimum care, little fertilizer, again a blow for the petroleum industry, and is easily harvested compared to other crops. Stop repeating the lies and half truths that sold us down the, rather up the river, to get drug laws that suited industries and the self righteous, prohibitionists still hiding in the Government in the 30's and 40's.

a reply to: angelchemuel

Thank you Jane for your kind words. It is not an overstatement in my opinion to say that hemp is the answer to being able to establish a green self-sustaining economy...but... it will not change men's hearts and that is where the Earth's greatest problems lie.

Harry